Intel to Build Next-Generation Chips Using 'Glass Substrate'

pcmag.com:

To build more powerful processors, Intel plans on using glass instead of plastic for the base layer of the company’s computer chips. 

The change promises to help Intel pack even more “chiplets” and electrical interconnects on its processors. In addition, the glass material can withstand higher temperatures for better stability during the chip-making phase.  

"This, we see as an inflection point," Intel Director of Substrate TD Module Engineering Rahul Manepalli said during a press briefing. "I think the entire industry will need technology like this."

The new manufacturing method deals with the packaging substrate, the material to which chip dies are bonded. Intel and others have long used plastic (also known as organic) substrates, but the material can shrink or warp during the chip-making process, leading to defects. 

Intel notes the warping risk grows as more silicon is placed on the substrate. "As the demand for data-centric, AI-centric compute increases, we are seeing an increasing amount of silicon being packed onto the package substrate, which organic packages have come to some kind of limitation in terms of handling it," Manepalli added.

The company found a solution in glass, a homogenous substance that can remain rigid under a higher chip load. “Compared to today’s organic substrates, glass offers distinctive properties such as ultra-low flatness and better thermal and mechanical stability, resulting in much higher interconnect density in a substrate,” Intel said in its announcement. 

The result paves the way for Intel to build larger “chiplet complexes” at scale and increase the electrical interconnect density by up to 10 times. For example, the glass material lets Intel pack a 50% larger die compared to the